


Wish My Luck To A Brighter Future

by maelstromdeparture



Series: On the Right Road [14]
Category: ATEEZ (Band), GOT7, Golden Child (Korea Band), NCT (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band), TWICE (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Brothers, Discrimination, Hybrids, I think that's it? - Freeform, Mentioned Bangtan Boys | BTS Ensemble, Mentioned GOT7 Ensemble, Mentioned Hirai Momo, Mentioned Kim Seokjin | Jin, Nightmares, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Reunions, i really hope i got everyone tagged, why are there so many people in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 10:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25848160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maelstromdeparture/pseuds/maelstromdeparture
Summary: Jeongin's first birthday with the Bangs is a little more than he bargained for, involving a sleepover, waffles, Felix braving the cold, a hybrid rights movement gathering in a little coffee shop, and the brother he was beginning to worry he would never find.*****this is directly after This is My Own Way****
Series: On the Right Road [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723291
Comments: 12
Kudos: 67





	Wish My Luck To A Brighter Future

**Author's Note:**

> why do i do this to myself????? there's far too many people in this one. if i spelled people's names wrong please let me know so i can fix it :D 
> 
> you'll be absolutely shocked to learn that this one is actually mostly edited before posting!!!! i wish i could tell you that it's because i had things together this time...it is not. that is not the case. i had to edit it because i'd screwed up the timeline and somehow winter had become six months long so it had to be fixed -_- 
> 
> there's actually no warnings in this one other than the usual hybrid discrimination there's some not so nice things said to Jeongin at one point and a discussion of past abuse as well, but nothing graphic or really stated either. if you read it and are like....hey, maelstrom, you need a warning for this, please let me know and i'll add it :D
> 
> but before being read there's a handful of things to be cleared up! just so everyone's caught up and not confused because there were a lot of changes mentioned in the last fic that were kinda glossed over  
> \- Yeonjun is interning at Bangtan now instead of working for Jin  
> \- this means Jin has hired new people (haven't decided how many. right now just the one is introduced)  
> \- Jihyo (the oc receptionist for Bangtan) has retired and been replaced by Mingi  
> \- 247 is a hybrid rights group that's been mentioned in passing. their main founder and advocate is Minghao and they're technically connected to a larger international hybrid rights movement  
> \- 247 Seungkwan (i hope that's how his name is spelled) is the other founder of the group and this is the first fic he appears in
> 
> again at least half these groups are groups i either don't stan or only casually stan so please please let me know if someone's name is spelled wrong so i can fix it :) thx!!! 
> 
> i think that's all the important stuff so enjoy! :)

Jeongin’s laughter echoed through the street as he ran away from Seungmin. Seungmin’s breath was wheezing out of him but he was laughing too, chasing after the younger. He was just in reach, Seungmin’s fingers brushed his jacket sleeve and Jeongin vanished into a puff of smoke. Seungmin whirled around the empty street trying to find him.

“Jeonginnie?” he called, “Jeonginnie, where’d you go?” He couldn’t have just disappeared. That didn’t make any sense. He probably ran back home. Seungmin hurried back through the street and into the apartment building. He hurried up the stairs and pushed open the right door.

“Jeonginnie!” he called, “Jeongin-ah this isn’t funny! Where are you?” He scoured the house opening doors to every room and every closet and every bathroom. He even checked the pantry. He checked under the couch and the chair and the desk and every bed in the house.

“Jeongin!” he yelled. “Jeongin, where are you?”

“Seungmin-ah?” called his mother. “What are you yelling about?”

“Mom! Mom, have you seen Jeongin? We were playing tag and I can’t find him,” said Seungmin frantically running through the house to reach his mother. He crashed into the wall but didn’t really feel it.

“Honey,” said his mom softly, “oh dear. Did you hit the wall? Are you okay?”

“What? I’m fine. Where’s Jeongin, mom? Did something happen?” asked Seungmin.

“Sweetie, maybe we should sit down,” said his mom. This was all starting to feel eerily familiar. Seungmin hated it. He turned around to try and get away but found himself instead sitting on the living room couch facing his mother yet again.

“What? No. Where’s Jeongin!” yelled Seungmin. He shouldn’t be raising his voice at his mother, but something was wrong and she didn’t care. Why didn’t she care?

“Dear, you know he’s not here,” said his mom shaking her head. “There was an accident, weeks ago. When your father came to pick you up. He rushed Jeongin-ah to the hospital but they couldn’t save him after that car hit him.”

“No,” whispered Seungmin. “No, I don’t believe it. It’s not true.” The room spun and Seungmin could swear he could hear Jeongin screaming. Screaming in pain and fear and begging for Seungmin to help him. It was horrifying. 

“Seungmin? Seungmin, are you okay?” He jerked upright opening his eyes. His cheeks were wet.

“Honey, are you alright? You were having a nightmare,” said his mom reaching to rub his back.

“I’m fine,” said Seungmin wiping at his face. It was useless, he hadn’t managed to wake up without crying in over a year now. Not since Jeongin went missing.

“Dear, you can’t keep going like this,” said his mom shaking her head. “You need to move on. You’re stuck in this grief over something that can’t be changed. You have to move on at some point. Jeongin wouldn’t want you to be miserable, it’s time to let go.”

“No,” snapped Seungmin pushing her away. “He’s not dead, mom. Just because dad said there was an accident doesn’t mean there was. You know he’s a liar as much as I do. Why should we believe this?”

“The hospital records were pretty clear, Seungmin-ah,” said his mother softly. “You have to let this go, Seungmin, it’s hurting you. Maybe you just need companionship. I can make a couple calls and you can have a new friend in a matter of hours.”

“No,” hissed Seungmin scowling at her and standing up from his bed. “Jeongin is not fucking replaceable. He’s not a toy, mom, he’s my brother and he’s out there hurting somewhere and it’s my fault because I didn’t protect him!”

“Dear, Jeongin-ah was a fox hybrid, if he’s not dead like your father claims then he’s okay and probably on his way home. They’re the smartest hybrids in the world,” said his mother nodding. “If he is out there and something happened he’s okay. You’ve got to trust that he’ll come home if he’s out there.”

“Jeonginnie doesn’t know our address or any of our phone numbers,” said Seungmin shaking his head. “When he comes home he’s tattooing my cell phone number on his hand so this never happens again.”

“I really think a new companion would benefit you, Seungmin,” said his mother. Seungmin tugged his pajama shirt off and reached for his outfit for school.

“I’m going to school, mom,” he said, “if I come home and there’s a new hybrid in this house I will never speak to you again.” His mother sighed.

“You’re much too attached, Seungmin-ah, he’s just a hybrid,” said his mother.

“Jeongin is not replaceable,” said Seungmin, “get out of my room.” His mother shook her head and stood up, leaving Seungmin to his thoughts. The sound of Jeongin screaming his name echoed in his ears, leftovers of the nightmare that had woken him.

“Seungmin! Minnie-hyung!” Chan stood up quickly once the yelling started. He wasn’t entirely sure what time it was anymore. He’d lost track ages ago, letting himself get lost in writing lyrics. Felix was going to sit on him again to get him to sleep. The court case had picked up more attention lately and they were finally getting down to making a verdict on whether or not they would allow the hybrids to testify. Chan was exhausted. He was hopeful of the direction it was going and what it would mean if they would let the hybrids witness. But he was terrified of what that meant for Felix, of making him relive everything with his abusers sitting in the same room as him.

The screaming continued as Chan ran down the hall to the smallest of the rooms. It had been an old study, that was pretty much just storage for old school books and hundreds of both Chan and Jisung’s old notebooks. Jisung and Felix had helped him clean it out for Jeongin while the youngest had been sick right after he first arrived. Jisung and Felix had done most of the decorating since Jeongin was too out of it to properly pick anything, though since then Jeongin’s personal touches had been added. Between looking for Jeongin’s missing owner and dealing with Felix’s court case and Jisung having regular nightmares again, Chan was spread thin and ready to collapse. Now if only his body would allow him to sleep. Felix’s head poked out of his door looking worried. Jisung’s door was open and the bunny was curled up in his bed, surrounded by a wall of pillows and blankets, still dead to the world.

“Jeongin!” called Chan already knocking on the door. “Jeongin, I’m coming in!” He knocked one more time before pushing the door open. Felix tugged the blanket he had over his shoulders up so that it looped over his head like a hood. He looked exhausted. He probably wasn’t getting much more sleep than Chan was, with everything going on. Jeongin was wrapped up in his sheets, tears streaking down his face.

“Jeongin! Jeongin, you need to wake up, aegi, it’s okay, you’re okay. Please wake up,” said Chan already moving to untangle the sheets so the youngest wouldn’t feel trapped.

“Jeonginnie,” called Felix moving over to help. “Jeonginnie, you’re okay, wake up.” Jeongin jerked awake, still screaming, scrambling back and away from them in fear. Chan gave the sheets one last firm tug so that they finally released Jeongin from their hold, and then held his hands out in front of him, palm up, so Jeongin knew he wasn’t going to hurt him.

“Jeonginnie, you’re okay,” said Felix softly, “you’re okay, you’re safe. You’re with hyungs. You’re not there anymore. You’re here safe with me and Jisungie and Channie. You’re okay.” Jeongin was gasping slightly but his breathing was starting to slow. After just over three months of Jeongin living with them, they’d gotten pretty good at calming him down from nightmares and panic attacks. Jeongin choked back a sob, but his breathing was regulated again.

“Hey, Jeongin-ah, you back with us?” asked Chan. Jeongin nodded and a sob escaped and he launched himself into Chan’s arms. Chan tumbled backwards off the bed and tightened his grip on the younger boy, making sure that Jeongin didn’t hit the floor as they fell.

“Hey, you’re okay,” said Chan gently, running his hand up Jeongin’s back. Hopefully he didn’t sound too out of breath, since Jeongin knocking him off the bed had knocked the air out of him. Felix was sat on the bed peering down at both of them looking worried.

“I want to go home,” wailed Jeongin burying his face into Chan’s chest. “I want Minnie-hyung. I miss Minnie-hyung.”

“Oh, sweetie, I know, I’m sorry,” said Chan gently. He had to find Jeongin’s person. Worrying over the court situation wouldn’t change the results in the end, but he may be able to do something about Jeongin’s situation. Hopefully he could do that at least. Felix moved down to the floor to join the cuddle pile.

“We’ll find him,” said Felix, “it’s just taking some time.” Jeongin nodded but continued to cry.

“Do you want to go back to sleep, Jeonginnie?” asked Chan gently, “or would you rather stay up?”

“Sleep,” said Jeongin immediately, “with you.” Chan nodded and carefully stood up, holding tightly to the youngest. Felix helped him balance until he had his feet under him properly and then they headed to Chan’s room.

“Cuddling too, Lix?” asked Chan once he had Jeongin set in his bed.

“I’m going to go make Jisungie share his fortress of blankets,” said Felix shaking his head. Chan nodded.

“Okay, goodnight, Lix,” said Chan. Felix disappeared down the hall, his footsteps nearly silent. Chan settled in next to Jeongin and let the younger wrap himself around him. It wasn’t until he was practically asleep that he realized that Jeongin had probably insisted on this as a way to force Chan to sleep. His brothers were sneaky little shits, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jeongin’s birthday snuck up on him. He didn’t want to celebrate it. Not without Seungmin, and the others had respected that and made sure that he knew they weren’t going to make a big deal of it. They hadn’t even told anyone outside of the immediate Stray group. Hyunjin, Minho, and Changbin had still slept over the night before, cramming together with them in a giant pile of blankets on the living room floor, watching cartoons and playing video games. It was fun and a normal enough occurrence that Jeongin didn’t ache as badly with the pain of missing his brother. The fact that both Felix and Chan got more sleep that night in the pile of people than either of them had in weeks had definitely helped. Hyunjin and Minho had left early that morning the same time Changbin did, though both of the hybrids had opted to brave the cold to walk to the dance studio, while Changbin was going back home to open the shop for the day. Jisung and Felix took over the kitchen and made pancakes for breakfast, or more accurately they made a mess until Chan had enough and took over, kicking them both out into the living room to watch a drama with Jeongin. Jeongin had laughed for several minutes about both of their misfortune at being unable to properly make pancakes in the kitchen. It had ended up in both of them chasing him around the house until breakfast was ready. The three of them had insisted on gifts as well, which meant he’d gotten a new extra thick blanket from Felix, a hat from Jisung, and Chan had given him an entire set of books that Jeongin had mentioned he had been in the process of reading when he’d been kidnapped. Halfway through the day Chan had left to go to court and they had opted to spend the rest of the afternoon huddled in blankets napping and watching movies.

By the time Chan got home it was late and they’d already eaten dinner and had started getting dressed to leave the house. 247 was having a meeting at Jin’s tonight so most of the group was going to be there. It was also the first time in a couple of weeks that all of Taeyong’s family would make it, which meant Felix had layered up in as many layers as he could physically wear, because he hadn’t seen Chenle since November when it had started getting pretty cold. Chan had walked through the door and smiled at the three of them despite looking exhausted and worn out. Jeongin wasn’t sure what the other two knew about the court case, but he knew that people had to be harassing Chan for doing something like this for a hybrid.

“Hey, guys, give me five minutes to change and then we can head out,” said Chan nodding.

“Sounds good, hyung,” said Jisung brightly. “We still need to gather collars, don’t worry.” Chan nodded and disappeared down the hall to his room.

“How do you think it went? Does he seem more tired than he has been?” whispered Felix worriedly. Jisung grimaced.

“I can’t tell anymore,” he said shaking his head. “He’s exhausted all the time and so are you, Lix. Neither of you are sleeping and between me and Jeonginnie’s nightmares we’re waking you up when you do sleep.”

“There’s got to be a solution to this,” muttered Felix shaking his head as Jisung led the way over to the rack by the front door that held some of their collars. He handed over Jeongin’s immediately. It was the most identifiable with the purple name tag that marked him an exotic hybrid. Felix took his next and buckled it on quickly. Jisung dug through the pile before coming up with one with his medical tag on it.

“We should just cuddle all the time,” suggested Jeongin, “that’s what we did last night and everyone slept all the way through the night.”

“Yeah, but we can’t do that forever and it won’t fix anything,” said Felix shaking his head.

“Besides, we aren’t all going to fit comfortably in any bed in this house,” said Jisung shaking his head. Chan reappeared, entering the living room from the hallway.

“Alright, everyone ready?” he called.

“Yes!” called Felix, “the Lees are still coming, right?”

“Last I heard,” said Chan nodding as everyone hurried to the door. They climbed into the car and Chan started it up.

“It’s so cold,” complained Felix.

“Here, hyung, you can have my hand warmer,” said Jeongin handing over the one in his pocket. Felix beamed at him and took it.

“Thanks, Jeonginnie, I love you,” he announced. Jeongin laughed, but it didn’t stop the bittersweet feeling those words always brought. Sweet because he loved the family that had taken him in and given him somewhere safe and warm and loving, bitter because he missed his brother more every time he heard the words. Chan parked on the street near Bangtan, the street was already lined with cars.

“How many people are coming to this thing?” asked Felix surprised.

“I’m not actually sure,” said Chan frowning. “I know a lot of the 247 group have made friends at school and gained a lot of other members, but I really don’t know how big it is anymore. They’re most active in our area though.”

“Surely not all these cars are here for this,” said Jisung shaking his head. He tucked his ears up into his hat and Jeongin carefully tugged his new hat down over his own. Felix tightened the scarf he was wearing. He was so bundled up he looked a little like a marshmallow man and Jeongin found it more than a little funny, but he didn’t want to laugh at the cat hybrid. Especially since he knew it was a reaction to past trauma.

“If it gets to be too much I know Jin-hyung would be happy too let you hide in his apartment,” said Chan nodding. “Or Namjoon-hyung or Jackson-hyung and Bambam too.” Felix nodded and took a deep breath.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said opening the door. The others hurried out into the cold night after him. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground but nothing like the storm that Jisung had found Jeongin in, months ago now. They ran across the street, all of them following Felix who was determined to get out of the cold as fast as possible. The inside of Jin’s was crowded and full. Most of their friends were already there, and there were humans and hybrids that they had never met, there were school kids and business men and women, and even a few couples, probably parents.

“Namjoon!” yelled Jin, “the Bangs are here! Make sure Felix is okay! No one’s seen him since October!”

“The Bangs are here?”

“Jisung!” yelled Jungkook immediately waving from where he was helping make drinks. The newest hire for Jin Eats was trying to help him make drinks and keep up with demand. He looked frazzled.

“Hyung!” yelled Jisung immediately moving over to talk to the other bunny hybrid.

“Dude, I made a friend,” announced Jungkook pointing to where another hybrid was sitting at the end of the counter. “That’s Jongho, he’s Pygmy Rabbit.”

“You are? That’s so cool,” said Jisung excitedly. “We need more bunnies. Hi, I’m Han.”

“Hi,” said Jongho looking a little nervous at the sudden attention. “I’m Song Jongho.”

“Song? Who’s your person?” asked Jisung curious. “That’s my person, Chan and my other brothers Felix and Jeongin.”

“Mingi-hyung,” said Jongho pointing across the café where Mingi was sitting with Beomgyu and Yeonjun and several other people Jisung didn’t recognize. Jisung waved hello when Beomgyu made eye contact and Beomgyu’s ears perked up and he waved back.

“Hannie-hyung!” he yelled, “is Felix-hyung here?”

“Yeah! Channie-hyung said Chenle’s coming so Felix agreed to brave the snow!” called Jisung.

“Felix is here?!” yelled another voice perking up. Jisung turned to look and waved when he realized it was Renjun, who seemed to be surrounded by a group of school kids. Jaemin was talking to another group of them while Jeno seemed to be talking to a couple parents.

“Hyung, move or I’ll climb over you,” announced Beomgyu pushing at Yeonjun who laughed and moved so Beomgyu could get out. Both the other cats hurried over to ambush Felix who greeted them enthusiastically. Jisung rolled his eyes and tugged his beanie off, shoving it into his pocket.

“Cats are weird, man,” he announced.

“Dogs are weird,” said Jungkook shaking his head.

“You just say that because your cat is Yoongi-hyung and he’s chill,” said Jisung claiming the seat next to Jongho. “Have you met Yoongi-hyung yet, Jongho-ssi? Hey, how old are you?”

“Born in 2000,” said Jongho nodding looking at Jisung’s ears curiously. “How do you keep them from getting tangled.”

“I absolutely don’t,” said Jisung shrugging. “It’s a lost cause. We gave up caring about ten years ago.”

“Hyung, can I join the bunny group?” asked Jeongin nervously grabbing Jisung’s elbow.

“Yep,” said Jisung nodding and pulling him into his lap. “This is Jongho-ssi, he’s your hyung. Jongho-ssi, this is my youngest brother Jeongin-ah, he’s a baby born in 2001.”

“Kai’s a baby,” insisted Jeongin shaking his head. “He’s born in 2002.”

“That’s Kai over there,” said Jisung pointing him out for Jongho. “I’m your age by the way, Jongho-ssi, so’s Felix and Renjun and Jaemin and Jeno. I’m assuming you’ve met them? They’re Taeil’s brothers. He’s the PA at Bangtan.”

“Who’s Yuta-hyung talking too?” asked Jeongin curiously, peering over Jisung’s shoulder to look around the café. Jungkook looked over to see.

“Oh, they’re new. He’s nice,” said Jungkook nodding. “He’s Scottish Fold like Yoongi-hyung and he’s from America. His name’s Shua or something? His person is Seungcheol, he owns the floral shop over by On Track. Apparently, Yuta-hyung and him were in the same shelter about the time Johnny-hyung found him? I think. Yuta-hyung was pretty excited to see him tonight.” 

“They’re across the street from each other and only just figured it out?” asked Jisung surprised. Jungkook shrugged.

“I guess,” he said, “I didn’t exactly ask. I’m sure one of the Moons knows if you want to be nosy. Or ask Soobinnie he always seems to know everything.”

“Eh, I’ll ask someone later,” said Jisung shrugging.

“Felix!” yelled a new voice from the doorway and Felix immediately shot across the restaurant to tackle his friend into a hug.

“Hey, Taeyong-hyung’s actually here. We haven’t seen him in ages,” said Jungkook surprised.

“He looks dead on his feet,” said Jisung shaking his head. “SM’s been running him ragged recently. You know they’re having him promote his own shit and SuperM shit at the same time right now?” Jongho was looking at Jisung with a mixture of awe and fear. Jisung wasn’t sure if it was the cusswords or the way he carried himself or wasn’t scared of speaking his mind.

“That’s insane,” said Jungkook shaking his head. “No wonder he looks like he’s dying. Oh, good, Taeil-hyung’s on it already.” True to his word, Taeil had already grabbed Taeyong and pulled him over to one of the free chairs. Taeyong was already practically asleep the minute Taeil had put an arm around him.

“He’ll make him eat, right?” asked Jisung scrunching his nose.

“Yeah,” said Jungkook nodding.

“Speaking of eating, hyung,” mumbled Jeongin, “you need to.” Jisung frowned and thought about it.

“Oh shit, you’re right,” he said moving Jeongin off of him and standing up. “Channie-hyung!” Chan looked up from where he was talking to Bambam and Yugyeom and a couple of people that Jisung didn’t recognize.

“What?” asked Chan immediately moving over.

“I need food,” announced Jisung and Chan’s eyes widened.

“Shit, you all didn’t eat before we left? Jisung,” complained Chan immediately worried.

“We ate dinner, stupid,” said Jisung reaching to flick Chan’s shoulder and rolling his eyes. “We’re not completely irresponsible.”

“I don’t know you’re all pretty irresponsible,” said Chan relaxing at that. “You feel okay though?”

“I’m fine, hyungie,” said Jisung nodding. “Jeongin-ah said something about food and he’s right.”

“He’s really comfortable with him,” said Jongho sounding a little admiring watching the interaction.

“Hannie? Yeah,” said Jungkook nodding glancing at the two as they went to talk to Soobin at the counter. “He’s lived with Chan for a dozen or so years now. Longer than any of us have lived with our family except for Yoongi-hyung who doesn’t count. He’s an outlier.”

“How long have you lived with them, Jeongin-ssi?” asked Jongho curious.

“A few months,” said Jeongin nodding. “Jisung-hyung found me lost in a snow storm.”

“What’s the big deal about the food?”

“Han-ah is hyperglycemic,” said Jungkook nodding. He waved at whoever entered the door next.

“Felix?” asked Donghyuck his ears perking up at the sight of the other cat. “You’re out of the house! Hyung, can I?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” said Mark nodding immediately before Donghyuck had even finished asking. Both Donghyuck and Jisung had opened up a lot more to Mark and the older members of his groups as well as most of the people they knew from the area. But they still pretty clearly deferred to Mark automatically and always asked permission before doing anything. Mark kept having to give blanket permission for multiple things and encouraging them to just tell him where they were going but neither had given in yet. They also weren’t overly fond of strangers so hopefully they did okay with how many people were here tonight. It didn’t look like the rest of the group had made it, other than Xiaojun who was sticking right by Mark’s shoulder looking around at the crowd of people with wide eyes. “Anything you want as long as you stay in the building.”

“Nice, can I sit with the other maknaes?” asked Jisung perking up and making a beeline for where Taehyun was sitting with Kai and a couple of humans the moment that Mark nodded confirmation. Taehyun greeted him cheerfully and made room for him. Mark and Xiaojun made their way over to where Taeyong was asleep on Taeil’s shoulder.

“Oh good you got him to sleep, hyung,” said Mark looking relieved. Xiaojun waved at Sicheng and abandoned Mark to Taeil to talk to the cat hybrid instead.

“Lee Jisung make sure you say hello before you leave!” called Jungkook when he realized that one of his other favorite dongsaengs had forgone greeting him to join the younger group instead.

“Two Jisungs?” asked Jongho looking confused already.

“Oh yeah, there’s a couple different repeat names. You gotta specify your Mark too, and you can’t just yell Tae or Tae-hyung without getting like five different people responding,” said Jeongin nodding. Jisung moved back over to join them. Minutes later Minho joined them.

“I have been unloved by my two favorite dongsaengs,” he announced, “unacknowledged, left unhugged.”

“Stop whining, hyung, we didn’t see you come in,” said Jisung already moving to hug him. “You aren’t going to join the dogs?”

“Nope, I’m sitting with you all. Hi, I’m Seo Minho,” said Minho waving at Jongho. “Jisung and Jeongin aren’t my brothers, that fluffy tall cat over there is and so’s the angry baby emo boy over there talking to Chan-hyung.”

“I mean you’re pretty much our brother too,” said Jisung shrugging. “But look, Jungkook-hyung found another bunny hybrid for the group.”

“That’s awesome,” said Minho nodding. “They’ve been a duo for ages. There are far too many dogs. Not enough cats if you ask me.”

“Too many if you ask me,” said Jisung.

“You are a dog?” asked Jongho confused and Minho shrugged.

“Yes, okay I am,” he agreed, “but like cats are better. Both the animal and the hybrid. Besides I’m the only dog hybrid in the group, we’re mostly cats, except for Jisungie. And Jeonginnie, but since he’s a fox he’s basically a cat too.”

“You’re a dog hybrid but you’re a cat person?” asked Jongho looking amused at the idea and Minho shrugged.

“Is what it is,” he said, “don’t get me wrong I’d rather be a dog, cats deal with so much more shit and I get enough of that kind of shit as a Chow so no thanks. But yeah, I’m a cat person.”

“Hyung?” mumbled Jeongin muffled against Jisung’s shoulder.

“Jeonginnie?” asked Minho immediately concerned, Jisung pushing lightly on him to get him to lean back so he could see his face.

“You okay?” asked Jisung. Jeongin blinked and shook his head.

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “How much did I sleep last night?”

“A lot,” said Minho frowning in concern at the question, “all the way through the night.”

“Why?” asked Jisung feeling his forehead. “Do you feel sick? Are you okay?”

“Do you see that boy over there?” asked Jeongin pointing to a table where a group of college students were huddled around a notebook and several pamphlets. Minghao was among them.

“Which boy?” asked Jungkook frowning. “Do I need to get Jin-hyung?”

“The one with the red hair,” said Jeongin still pointing. “Looks like a puppy. Do you see him?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with him?” asked Minho worried. “Do you know him.”

“You can see him,” whispered Jeongin excitedly, tugging his new hat off and shoving it at Jisung.

“You can actually see him?” he asked.

“Yeah, Jeonginnie, we see him,” said Jungkook still worried. “Do I need to get Jin-hyung.”

“That’s Minnie,” whispered Jeongin.

“What?” asked Jisung immediately whirling around. Jeongin was off his lap in a flash, a hand latched onto Jisung’s wrist and tugging him across the restaurant. Minho was hurrying after them just as quickly.

“Minnie-hyung?” called Jeongin hesitantly. The boy’s head came up and he looked around before looking back down, shoulders slumping.

“Seungminnie-hyung!” yelled Jeongin.

“Jeonginnie?” asked Chan noticing the commotion involved his brothers.

“Seungmin, Minnie,” called Jeongin and Seungmin’s head came back up looking up confused.

“Did you hear?” he asked the boy next to him and then his eyes landed on Jeongin. He shoved back from the table immediately.

“Jeongin?” he asked. Jeongin let go of Jisung and bolted for him. Seungmin met him in the middle colliding with him.

“Oh my god,” said Seungmin, “oh my god. I-just-you. Oh my god. You’re okay. Thank god you’re okay. Don’t you ever leave me ever again.”

“You left me alone,” said Jeongin, “I’m never letting you out of my sight. I missed you so much. I thought I wasn’t ever going to find you again.”

“I thought you were dead. Mom said you were dead,” said Seungmin holding him tightly. “Oh my god. What happened? How are you here? Are you okay? You look okay. Innie, that is not your collar?”

“It sorta is?” said Jeongin. “Your dad, he. There was a gang and a debt and I don’t really understand but it was awful and then there were cops and a snow storm and Jisung-hyung took me home and Chan-hyung and Felix-hyung and Jisung-hyung have been helping me look for you. How long have you been with 247? I could have found you ages ago.”

“Not, long,” said Seungmin shaking his head. “This was the first official meeting I came to. I’m so glad you’re okay. What do you mean my dad was involved? He said you got hit by a car and he took you to the hospital. That fucking liar. I knew it. I knew he wasn’t telling the truth. Mom was so sure though.”

“No, he had some kind of a debt,” said Jeongin shaking his head. “You haven’t been looking for me.”

“I have,” insisted Seungmin slightly frantic, “I’ve been looking anyway I could. Mom wanted me to give up but I knew you were alive. I was so sure. I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry. Are you okay? Please be okay.”

“I’m mostly okay?” said Jeongin. “Here, here, you need to meet hyungs. Jisungie-hyung, this is my person, Seungmin.”

“Oh dude we’ve been looking for you for ages,” said Jisung looking relieved. “I’m so glad you’re not some crazy person.”

“Hey,” complained Jeongin immediately. “You didn’t believe me?”

“Do you know how many abused hybrids think their owners are great?” asked Jisung making a face. “Most of them. We were pretty sure he was probably fine, but yeah, definitely worried about that.”

“What’s going on?” asked Chan, “are you okay?”

“Hyung, this is Seungminnie-hyung,” said Jeongin and Chan immediately relaxed.

“Oh my god, really?” he asked. “Mate, we’ve spent months looking for you. I’m Bang Chan, that’s Bang Han Jisung, Felix is over there somewhere, this is Minho-yah, he’s a Seo not a Bang.”

“Yeah we’ve been looking for you too,” said Minho nodding.

“Wait. Wait, this Kim Seungmin is your Kim Seungmin, Jeongin-ah?” asked Minghao surprised.

“Yes,” said Jeongin nodding.

“I had no idea. He never said anything,” said Minghao shaking his head. “I’d have called you.”

“I didn’t exactly want to talk about it. My mom already thinks I’m crazy,” said Seungmin shaking his head. “Wonder if she knew dad was lying and where she got the fake hospital report.”

“From Seoul Hybrid Hospital?” asked Chan frowning. “They hand out anything anyone wants for enough money. Most Hybrid Clinics do. It’s really pretty disgusting. Speaking of Clinics, let’s go hunt down Namjoon-hyung or Mingi or Beomgyu and get the guardianship transferred back over officially.”

“I get to say goodbye, right?” asked Jeongin immediately worried though still clinging tightly to Seungmin.

“Jeonginnie, if you think we’re letting you go you’re crazy,” said Chan shaking his head. “You’re part of the family whether you like it or not. We were fully aware you were bringing another person with you. Seungmin, congratulations you’re adopted you don’t have a say in the matter. You can meet everyone else after we get the ownership papers figured out. Speaking of we probably need to get that sorted. Namjoon-hyung!” He grabbed Seungmin’s shoulder and steered him over towards Namjoon, Jeongin automatically reaching to latch onto Chan’s elbow and follow. Seungmin gave Jeongin a funny look for that, looking a little concerned, but he didn’t voice anything. Jisung ran his fingers over the hat that he now had shoved into his jacket pocket. Minho wrapped his arms around him from behind and set his chin on Jisung’s shoulder.

“He’ll be okay,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah I know,” said Jisung, “at least with Seungmin-ssi. But what about the dad that’s the reason he got hurt in the first place? And what about Seungmin-ssi’s mom who apparently told him Jeonginnie was dead?”

“Then Chan will give Seungmin-ssi his phone number and Seungmin-ssi will call if he needs help and you can have two new roommates,” said Minho shrugging.

“Besides Seungmin-ah already has a lot of friends in 247 that would totally let him stay with them,” said Minghao, “I’d take them both in if they needed a place to go.”

“Will you and Felix be okay though?” asked Seungkwan, one of Minghao’s friends and one of the founding members of 247. He was nice though not around nearly as much as Minghao tended to be.

“Uh, yeah?” said Jisung, “yeah I think so. As long as Jeongin-ah is safe and happy then everything’s good, right? We knew we were looking for Seungmin-ssi and that Jeonginnie would go home, I just I guess I forgot about the actual going home part, huh.” He shook his head and plastered on a smile again.

“Let’s go talk to Jisung and Donghyuck,” he told Minho, “I haven’t seen them in ages and I’m kind of shocked they’re here.” Minho agreed brightly and kept his arms wrapped tightly around Jisung to go find the younger two hybrids.

“Are they from the same family?” asked one of the boys at the table watching as they made their way across the café, Minho’s ears twitched meaning he had probably heard them and was still paying attention.

“Uh, yes and no,” said Minghao shrugging. “Technically Han is a Bang and Minho is a Seo, but they’re both part of this bigger friend group that splits into sub friend groups that’s basically little family units to make sure everyone’s got the support they need and stuff. You probably noticed that no one around here really share the societal views on hybrids which boils down to most of the humans not really being in contact with their families anymore and well, hybrids don’t have parents because of the breeder system. So technically Han and Minho aren’t in the same family but they’re both in the Stray group because everyone’s got names like they’re all boy bands. I don’t know whose idea it was and me and Seungkwan are our own group right now. So they’re basically brothers but they don’t share an owner.”

“And the one with the curly hair that the bunny was yelling at earlier about food is his owner, right?” asked the boy.

“Yeah,” said Minghao nodding. “That’s Bang Chan, he’s pretty cool. He’s from Australia and produces music, and also if something’s wrong that’s not medical or hybrid related and you just need like advice, him or Seokjin-hyung are your go to people, they’re totally willing to take total strangers into their homes. It’s how half the people that are friends are friends with everyone else, the Seos for instance.”

“There’s a lot of cats here tonight too,” said the boy and Minghao nodded again.

“Yeah, you weren’t expecting that huh?”

“No, not really.”

“You want to meet some of them? They’re all pretty friendly as long as you’re nice to them too,” said Minghao.

“Can I actually? I think I saw a Persian earlier, can I meet him please?” asked the boy. Minghao nodded and stood up.

“That’s probably Hyunjin,” he said looking around and finding where Hyunjin was sat talking to Renjun and a gray cat hybrid that Minghao didn’t know. The group of them looked up as they approached the table.

“Hi, Minghao-hyung,” greeted Hyunjin, “looking for us?”

“You actually,” said Minghao nodding. “This is Wooyoung, he’s a photography student, he’s agreed to help us with pictures for pamphlets and fliers and stuff and he wanted to meet you.”

“Hi,” said Hyunjin, “I’m Seo Hyunjin, this is Moon Renjun and Hirai Chaeyoung. Why’d you want to talk to me?” Renjun shot a glance around the café looking for the nearest bigger scarier looking person or hybrid and landed on Johnny who made eye contact with him and subtly moved his conversation with the two florists and Yuta closer incase the three cats needed help.

“I have probably a couple of very stupid questions but I don’t know who to ask and this seems like the best opportunity,” explained Wooyoung nodding. “Do you mind if I sit?” Hyunjin shook his head and Wooyoung joined their table.

“Hyunjin-ah, Renjun-ah, I’m going to go find Momo-unnie,” said Chaeyoung nodding. “It was nice to meet you Wooyoung-ssi.”

“Nice to meet you too,” said Wooyoung respectfully and Hyunjin’s shoulders relaxed slightly at that but not entirely. Minghao noticed Yuta and Johnny’s group closer now to them and stepped over to greet the four cheerfully and ask how Seungcheol and Joshua were getting along with everyone.

“You said something about questions?” asked Hyunjin and Wooyoung nodded.

“You’re a Persian, right?” he asked and Hyunjin nodded, looking apprehensive.

“Yes,” he said, “why?”

“So you would share a lot of similar instincts with a Maine Coone Hybrid? And the fur care would be similar?” asked Wooyoung and Hyunjin wrinkled his nose slightly.

“Well, fur care probably would be similar?” he said, “you should talk to Jackson-hyung about books on fur care. And as for instincts it’d probably have some overlap, but every hybrid experiences instincts differently. Renjun-ah and Chaeyoung-noona are similar kinds of cats and have different instincts. There’s probably some overlap and like I could probably explain why a Maine Coon hybrid did something specific, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’d share that trait at all. Why’s it matter?”

“I may have accidentally acquired a schoolmate’s show cat hybrid,” said Wooyoung grimacing. Renjun looked at him surprised. 

“How do you accidentally acquire a show hybrid?” he asked raising his eyebrows sounding more than a little judgmental.

“Death in the family and a will?” suggested Hyunjin.

“You don’t count, you’re an outlier and you know it,” insisted Renjun shaking his head. “How did you manage that, Wooyoung-ssi?” Wooyoung grimaced.

“He’d been complaining about him non-stop and how he couldn’t get anyone to buy him but his parents said he had to sell him if he wanted a new one and that he was just going to pay off a shelter to take him in or put him down at this point and I wasn’t going to let that happen,” said Wooyoung shaking his head, “but now I don’t know what to do.”

“He’s not with you tonight?” asked Hyunjin, “why not?”

“Uh, he doesn’t like crowds or new people or people in general or leaving the apartment at all,” said Wooyoung frowning. “Or his collar or food or doing literally anything or talking and I don’t know what to do to help him.”

“Have you bought him a new collar?” asked Hyunjin, “half the time collars hurt or are really itchy.”

“I did not think of that no,” said Wooyoung shaking his head, “I should be writing this down.” He reached for one of the napkins on the table and pulled a pen out of his backpack to scribble on it.

“The food thing and the talking thing and the not doing much but sitting around thing is definitely trained behavior. You need to have a conversation about what rules he’s had to follow and which of them don’t apply anymore,” said Hyunjin nodding. “You’ll probably have to have a couple of those conversations.”

“Also, he may not be talking to you because he’s been hit for that in the past,” said Renjun nodding, “or just that you’re giving him too many choices at once and it’s overwhelming.”

“But isn’t it good to give him choices?” asked Wooyoung and Renjun nodded.

“Yes, I’m not saying make decisions for him. I’m saying give him two or three options maximum and make sure he knows all the choices are good,” he explained. “Too many options when you’re trained from birth that you don’t have any opinions is super overwhelming.” Hyunjin nodded in agreement.

“I definitely had at least two panic attacks about that before hyung and I figured it out,” he said nodding. “We’re lucky that the older members of our friend group took us into the group so quickly and Namjoon-hyung had gotten pretty good at explaining stuff to new owners at that point.”

“Yeah, Jaemin and Jeno both say that it was super overwhelming when they first started living with hyung,” said Renjun nodding. “I’m the oldest of the three of us but I was the last to join the family, Wooyoung-ssi. Those are my brothers over there and Taeil-hyung is probably at Bangtan since that thing with Jeongin and Seungmin-ssi happened earlier.”

“He’ll be okay, right?” asked Hyunjin immediately jumping to being worried about the young fox hybrid. “Like of course he’ll be okay. He’s a survivor and would call us if he needs us. But like. There’s so much that can go wrong now.”

“Didn’t he want to go home? And he’ll be okay. Besides you all forced him to memorize your phone numbers and the address,” said Renjun rolling his eyes.

“If he’d known Seungmin’s number or address he could have gone home immediately and not almost died in a snow storm,” insisted Hyunjin shaking his head. “And Wooyoung-ssi, you need to make sure that he’s around other people, especially hybrids.”

“But try to limit it to cats or bunnies,” insisted Renjun immediately nodding. “A lot of cats and bunny hybrids have been through hell and been hurt by dog hybrids that didn’t have a choice, so maybe don’t force him to be around any dog hybrids until you know he’ll be okay.”

“Mostly you’re just going to have to be super open and super patient,” said Hyunjin shrugging. “There’s not much else that you can do. Have you taken him to the clinic yet?”

“No? Do I need to? He seems okay,” said Wooyoung and both hybrids rolled their eyes at that.

“You just described him coming from an extremely abusive previous owner, gave us a list of things you don’t understand that would all be red flags if he was a person and not a hybrid, and he’s an ex show hybrid. Yes, he needs to see a doctor,” said Renjun sounding exhausted. “God I’m glad I didn’t agree to be the new receptionist, even the good new owners exhaust me. I’m so sick of having the same fucking conversation. Come on, Wooyoung-ssi, let’s go find Mingi-hyung or Taeil-hyung or Beomgyu-ah and get you an appointment scheduled. And bring your hybrid next time everyone would love to meet him.”

“Oh, oh wait I had a couple more quick questions,” said Wooyoung looking overwhelmed. “He sleeps like all day?”

“A lot of the breeds used in cat hybrids are naturally nocturnal and it carries over in a lot of hybrids,” said Hyunjin nodding. “That’s probably normal. I do that, Yoongi-hyung’s like that too, but Renjun-ah and Felix aren’t like that nearly as much.”

“Okay, I was worried that might be a problem. And he keeps getting distracted by the water when he tries to shower or drink or wash his hands or do anything with water involved?” asked Wooyoung. Both Renjun and Hyunjin look at each other confused.

“Running water?” clarified Hyunjin and Wooyoung shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter just water,” he said.

“Uh, that might be a Maine Coon thing. I hate running water,” said Renjun, “most cat hybrids have a phobia of water of some kind or another. Beomgyu-ah won’t touch running water at all. And I know Taehyun-ah hates it too.”

“Me too. I mean I can touch it but it’s the worst,” said Hyunjin nodding. “Felix might know. He likes running water. Though I’m not sure how much of that is the running water and how much of it is he’s had owners try to drown him in bathtubs in the past.” Renjun looked at Hyunjin surprised.

“They have a pool,” he stated.

“Yeah, it’s specifically bathtubs that he doesn’t do,” said Hyunjin in agreement. “Even with bathbombs or bubbles. No baths at all.”

“Jeongin-ah has that problem too then?” asked Renjun confused.

“No, I think it was an earlier thing,” said Hyunjin shaking his head. “He’s never really given us a timeline. He doesn’t like to talk about it. But I know he was like Jungkook-hyung where he got bounced around a lot before he ended up at Bangtan.”

“That’s truly horrifying,” stated Wooyoung. “Someone should do something about that.”

“We are,” said Renjun gesturing around at the crowded café. “And honestly the number of people here is crazy.”

“And Chan-hyung is too. He’s actually doing way more than anyone else ever has for a cat hybrid. He’s fighting a gang in court for Felix,” said Hyunjin shaking his head. “It’s sort of a big deal. It’s been dragging on for over a year now because everyone’s dragging their feet and can’t get anywhere because they haven’t let any of the hybrids witness yet, not to mention the sheer number of them that are still missing.”

“I know a couple more people I can get in on this,” said Wooyoung nodding. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

“You should start by making an appointment with Bangtan, come on, Mingi-hyung is over there let’s go talk to him,” said Renjun standing up and dragging Wooyoung after him. Hyunjin took a moment to look around the café before wandering over to the counter and plopping down into the seat Jisung and Jeongin had vacated earlier.

“Hi, Hyunjin-ah,” greeted Jungkook smiling at him. “Did your group abandon you?”

“Noona went to find Momo-noona,” said Hyunjin shrugging, “and Renjun-ah had to drag a new hybrid owner over to find someone from Bangtan to set up an appointment. He was nice, just confused and super nervous about talking to me. I think he was worried about saying his questions wrong or something which is super weird. Normally people don’t care at all.”

“That’s good though,” said Jungkook nodding. “It’s good that’s even happening. A lot of stuff has changed recently especially in our area. Before everyone started being around here when it was just us and Bangtan things used to be a lot worse. You’d not have had a group like 247. You’d definitely not have had so many people asking hybrids for information. There’d never have been this many hybrids in the café muchless free to socialize with each other. I know it seems like nothing’s changing and that we can’t make a difference but believe me we’re leaps and bounds further along than any of you act like we are.” The new barista who was watching as Jungkook finished making the drink he was working on nodded in agreement.

“Jungkook-hyung, how did you do that?” he asked looking depressed at the thought of not being able to understand what Jungkook had just done. Jungkook sighed and grabbed another cup to walk him through it.

“Hyunjin-ah, this is Bong Jaehyun, he’s Yeonjun-ah’s replacement,” said Jungkook.

“Hi,” said Jaehyun distractedly, “I’m good at the cold drinks. It’s just the hot ones confuse me. Jungkook-hyung keeps having to show me again.”

“Oh yeah for sure. I wouldn’t want to have to try and learn all those drinks. No thanks,” said Hyunjin grimacing.

“You know where over a thousand albums, idols, and bands in different languages are located in a store, alphabetically, by group, genre, and language,” said Jungkook, “that’s way more work.”

“It so isn’t? That’s easy stuff,” complained Hyunjin. “Music is fun. The only reason I know where everything is, is because I help put it away, and I like to listen to everything at least once, and I can’t sleep if I don’t make sure everything’s in place it bugs me.” Jungkook’s nose wrinkled a little, making him look more like the bunny he got his dna from temporarily. It was a habit that Jisung had too and Hyunjin found it endlessly adorable.

“That sounds awful. Is that something you’ve mentioned to Dr. Park?” asked Jungkook. Hyunjin shrugged.

“Like in passing. It’s not really related to anything, it’s just part of my routine. You know me and Binnie-hyung like to stick to our routine. It’s habit,” said Hyunjin.

“I’m pretty sure your routine was to get you to a healthy weight and was not meant to be stuck to for life,” said Jungkook shaking his head and Hyunjin shrugged.

“Okay, but we like it so literally who cares?” he asked. “What brought you to Jin’s, Jaehyun-ssi?”

“I needed a job,” said Jaehyun nodding. “And I live nearby and am getting ready to get out of school with an art degree. And well, there’s only so many options with an art degree, which is why my parents didn’t want me to go into art, but I hated everything else and everyone here is super nice so here we are and here I am and I guess we see where it goes from here, yeah?”

“Oh, you should talk to Doyoung-hyung, he’s a comic artist,” said Hyunjin nodding. “He writes the graphic novel series Better Day and the webcomic by the same name.” Jaehyun perked up intrigued by that.

“Really? That’s so cool,” he said.

“Hey, focus,” complained Jungkook.

“Right!” said Jaehyun immediately turning his attention back to Jungkook.

“Doyoung-hyung’s brother’s name is Jaehyun too,” said Hyunjin.

“Hyunjin-ah, please stop distracting him,” said Jungkook and Hyunjin laughed.

“Did you hear Renjun-ah finally convinced Taeil-hyung to let him pierce his ears?” asked Jungkook. Part of the perks of working at Jin’s was that they always knew all the new group news and gossip first, and in general for the neighborhood since everyone frequented them for food and coffee. If you lived in the area you were a regular at Jin’s unless you’d managed to anger Seokjin and get banned for life.

“Did he? Damn,” complained Hyunjin slumping. “That means Lix will do his too and they might even convince Donghyuck to do his.”

“Why’s that a bad thing?” asked Jaehyun confused and Hyunjin gestured to his own ears.

“Because they all have short haired fur so they can and the rest of us have long fur so we can’t and it’s not fair,” complained Hyunjin, “I want to pierce my ears too, but there’s no point if you can’t see the piercing because my fur is too majestic.” Jungkook rolled his eyes and Jaehyun looked like he was trying not to laugh at the words Hyunjin used to describe his own fur.

“Majestic?” he questioned.

“Don’t challenge me on this,” said Hyunjin glaring at him. “My fur is beautiful and majestic and me and Binnie-hyung put a lot of work into keeping it that way. Do you have any idea how hard it is to maintain long fur? Jisungie and Chan-hyung spend hours a day, detangling his ears because he can’t keep from tangling them. It takes a lot of work to make it look this good.” Jaehyun giggled.

“I mean, you’re right obviously,” he said, “it’s just a funny word to describe anything. Not exactly common. And no, I have no idea how much work goes into maintaining that kind of fur, but I imagine a lot because it looks like you put a lot of care into it.”

“I do,” insisted Hyunjin nodding. “You see my ears compared to Hannie’s, right?” Jaehyun followed where Hyunjin was pointing to and nodded.

“Yeah, I can see the difference,” he said nodding. “But also, his are a lot longer than yours? So that probably makes it harder to keep them from tangling.”

“Oh it does,” agreed Jungkook nodding, Hyunjin nodding as well. “My ears are constantly in the way.” To accent his point Jungkook pushed one of his long lop ears over his shoulder.

“I can see that,” agreed Jaehyun nodding. “It looks like they would be. But they’re really cool too. Most bunny hybrids don’t have ears like yours, right?”

“No,” agreed Jungkook nodding. “Mini lop is the most common bunny hybrid, followed by Dutch Rabbit. Their ears aren’t lopped.”

“Lopped is the floppy ones, right?” asked Jaehyun and both Hyunjin and Jungkook nodded.

“See, mine and Han’s ears are lopped,” said Jungkook gesturing to where Jongho was sitting. “And Jongho’s aren’t. He’s a pygmy rabbit. Traditionally that’s not a domestic rabbit, but bunny hybrids aren’t counted in the exotic index so he’s just a bunny hybrid too.”

“Why not?” asked Jaehyun frowning. “If his breed isn’t domestic then he’s an exotic hybrid.”

“Nope, because bunnies are supposed to be the lesser of the hybrids,” said Hyunjin shrugging. “According to breeders and society, bunny hybrids have the least capacity for thought, learning, complex emotions, and emotion in general. Bunnies aren’t supposed to be able to learn multiple languages, much less memorize every drink in a café.” Surprise and confusion filtered across Jaehyun’s face and he looked at Jungkook, clearly trying to make sense of what Hyunjin had just said in the face of the hybrid that defied every word of it without even trying.

“But?” he asked confused. “Then how?”

“Because it’s all bullshit,” said Jungkook shaking his head. “All of it is bullshit. Everything. Every little bit of everything you have ever been told about hybrids not being anything like a human is absolute fucking bullshit.”

“Huh,” said Jaehyun cocking his head. “Then why do they say it?”

“Because if hybrids are less than human, we can be sold and toyed with and forced to be slaves and pets and toys,” said Hyunjin shrugging. “Train someone to believe they’re worthless if they don’t follow exactly what you want from them and then slap a price on them and it’s not hard to convince society that they’re not human. Hell, history has proven that you don’t even have to have animal traits to not be considered a person.”

“Yep,” agreed Jungkook nodding. “Racism. Xenophobia. Slavery. Sex trafficking. Sexism. Nazism. Detainment camps. Refusal to take in refugees. Homophobia. Transphobia. All that kind of stuff. If you can easily convince people that other people aren’t people, imagine how much easier it is to convince people that kids with cat ears are just glorified animals.” Jaehyun looked a little sick.

“That’s what 247 is fighting. Admittedly they’ve gotten way bigger than any of us thought they would,” said Hyunjin shrugging. “It’s kind of wild.”

“It’s why it’s such a big deal that the Bangs are fighting the Black Rose gang in court right now. People don’t do that for hybrids,” said Jungkook shaking his head. “The general population of South Korea thinks Chan’s insane. It’s why most of his jobs are international right now.”

“Wait, Chan-hyung’s not getting local jobs because of the court case?” asked Hyunjin. Jungkook shrugged.

“Well, Kim Woojin, TY, Bambam, The 7th Sense,” listed Jungkook, “but that’s about it. And Bambam had to fight JYP to get him to let him hire Chan. And last I heard SM only allowed it because of the whole thing that happened with Donghyuck and Jisung. They want some more positive press on their company in regards to hybrid treatment, and if that means working with the crazy producer then that’s what it means.”

“But they haven’t said anything about it,” said Hyunjin shaking his head.

“Well, as his jobs locally went down the international ones went up. Especially artists in countries like Canada where there’s practically equality for hybrids. America too is moving that direction pretty quickly, the UK isn’t far behind,” said Jungkook.

“You keep track of that?” asked Hyunjin and Jungkook frowned at him.

“You don’t?” he asked, “Hyunjinnie, there’ve been riots in every state in America, in every city, they’re regulating the news in a lot of countries because they’re trying to keep it from happening in other places. Namjoon-hyung watches new stations from all over the world when he’s bored. It’s why they’re considering letting the hybrids in the Black Rose case witness. Because they don’t want riots here.”

“There wouldn’t be,” said Hyunjin shaking his head. “There’s not anywhere near enough support for that. No one cares that much.”

“Hey, we thought this was impossible, but look,” said Jungkook gesturing to the room. “Who’s to say that can’t happen?”

“People get hurt in riots,” said Hyunjin hesitantly. “And violence isn’t the answer. Don’t you think there’s been enough violence?”

“Sometimes violence is the only thing people understand,” said Jaehyun quietly. “But I do think you’re right and we should try to avoid that happening. There’s a better way. I hope. But also sometimes you’re out of options and you do what you have to do, right?”

“The way things are going, I doubt anything like that would happen in our lifetime,” said Jungkook shrugging. “Show me how to make it, Jaehyun-ah.” Jaehyun turned to look at the machine apprehensively and took a deep breath before grabbing a cup and starting to make the drink.

Going home without Jeongin was weird. The car ride was quiet and none of the three of them talked much. Felix made a beeline for the shower the minute they got home and Jisung started helping Chan clean up the blankets and pillows from the living room.

“We’ll need to make sure he gets his stuff,” said Jisung quietly. Chan nodded absently.

“I’m sure he has his own stuff at Seungmin’s, but you’re right we should,” he said.

“I’m going to miss him,” said Jisung.

“He’ll still be around. We all knew this was temporary,” said Chan.

“Did we though? The chances of finding the right Kim Seungmin in Seoul was a needle in a haystack, Chan. That’s a one in a billion chance,” said Jisung, “and he thought Jeongin was dead so he sure as hell wasn’t looking for him. I know this is a good thing. I know he wanted to go home. But it feels wrong. He’s supposed to be here. It’s like part of the puzzle that makes this home got ripped out and burned. He’s supposed to be here.” Jisung choked on a sob as Chan pulled him into a tight hug.

“He’s okay, Jisungie,” said Chan softly, “he’ll be okay. I’m sorry we didn’t get to keep him. But if you got lost you’d want to come home too. If that happened to you I’d want you back more than anything in the world. I can’t do that to Jeongin and I can’t do that to Seungmin and I know you don’t want to do that either.” Jisung let out a broken sounding sob muffling it into Chan’s shoulder.

“He wasn’t even looking for him. He deserves to at least go home to someone who was looking for him,” said Jisung. He was trembling slightly in Chan’s arms and Chan shifted so that he could pull Jisung into his lap and fully envelop the smaller boy.

“He wants him, Ji, he loves Jeonginnie too,” said Chan. “If he didn’t we wouldn’t let him go back to him.”

“He wasn’t even looking for him.” It was more of a whimper this time and Chan was quiet letting Jisung cry against him.

“Ji, you know I’d look for you, right?” asked Chan quietly suspecting this may not be entirely about Jeongin anymore. And Jisung hiccupped slightly trying to stop crying to respond.

“That’s why the nightmares have been worse isn’t it?” asked Chan. “No, no, you have to know I’d look for you. I’d never stop looking for you. I’d do anything for you.”

“I know,” whispered Jisung, “I know. I just. I had owners before you. Owners that didn’t. People that didn’t give a damn whether some stupid bunny was taken or not.” Chan held tighter to Jisung.

“You have people that would search to the ends of the earth for you now. You’re my brother, Jisung, I’d do anything to get you back if you were taken from me. I’d do anything to keep you safe and to keep you with me,” said Chan. Jisung nodded.

“I know,” he said. “I know. It just. It’s not good in my head right now. You know? And knowing that Seungmin wasn’t looking for Jeongin doesn’t help.”

“We don’t know what happened. All we know is that Seungmin had been told there was an accident and that Jeongin had died at Seoul Hybrid Hospital,” said Chan, “maybe Seungmin did look for him the best he could, but his parents wouldn’t let him do any more.”

“He won’t keep Jeonginnie from visiting, right?” asked Jisung.

“No, he’s already agreed to come to dinner on Sunday,” said Chan nodding and Jisung relaxed slightly.

“Good,” he said. Felix’s shower turned off and moments later he stopped in the entrance of the hallway to look at them.

“Are you coming to bed or are you two going to sit out here and have another heart to heart?” he asked. “Because I’m going to bed, but if you’re going to be another few minutes you can find your way in the dark.” Jisung giggled and the two of them stood up.

“We’re coming,” said Chan nodding and Felix nodded and turned down the hallway. He walked right past his room and straight to Chan’s. Jisung took off after him. By the time Chan had turned off all the lights and double checked that all the doors were locked, Felix was curled up in the bed and Jisung had constructed a wall surrounding the outer edges of the bed with the extra pillows and blankets that Felix had brought with him. Chan carefully climbed into the nest Jisung had built and settled himself contentedly between the two of them. Felix curled closer to him and Jisung’s head found its way to his chest and Chan carefully adjusted Jisung’s ear so it wasn’t squished and listened as their breathing steadied and slowed. He let it wash over him and his eyes fell closed and he lost himself to the peaceful dark.

It was still dark outside when he was jerked awake. His cell phone ringing. He picked it up and squinted at the caller id. It was an unknown number. Jisung stirred in his sleep and Felix blinked awake sleepily sitting up. Chan squinted at the number again before huffing and answering.

“Hello?” he greeted, carefully sliding out from underneath Jisung so the younger could keep sleeping.

“Chan-hyung?” asked a voice. “You said we could call if we need somewhere to go?” Chan jerked upright immediately.

“Seungmin? What’s wrong? What happened? Is Jeongin okay?” asked Chan.

“Yes he’s okay. Uh, physically okay,” said Seungmin, “as okay as I am at least. I think. You know what I don’t know. My mom came home and she was not excited to see that Innie was alive at all. And um well. We need a place to stay until I figure out what to do. Can we crash on your couch? Or well, can I crash on your couch and can Jeongin come back to you? I need to find a job and an apartment first before he can come back with me.”

“Where are you? I’m coming to get you,” said Chan already scrambling to get dressed.

“Hyung? What’s wrong?” asked Felix. Jisung woke up and looked at the two of them blearily. He really hadn’t been sleeping well lately.

“Seungmin got kicked out because his mom didn’t take him coming home with Jeongin very well,” said Chan, “I’m going to go pick them up.”

“Hang on, I’m coming too,” said Jisung rubbing his eyes and hurrying out of bed. He ran down the hall to change clothes and came back holding one of his collars and wearing shoes. Chan had his own shoes on at that point and was trying to grab his wallet and keys.

“I’m calling On Track,” said Felix running a hand through his hair. “They’ll want to be kept updated. Do I need to call one of the older hyungs? Bambam-hyung, Mark-hyung, Namjoon-hyung?”

“No, it’ll be okay, we’ll sort it in the morning if something’s worse,” said Chan nodding. “We’ll be back soon.” Felix nodded and reached over to turn on the lamp.

“I’ll be up,” he said nodding. Chan nodded and ruffled a hand through his hair as Jisung came running back through the hall carrying Chan’s keys.

“Keys, come on, let’s go,” he said.

“Right, Seungmin, we’re on our way. Stay right where you are. Are you somewhere safe? Okay, that’s good. Stay right there, we’ll be there soon,” said Chan. He hung up and the two of them ran to the car. Felix followed locking the doors behind them.

“Where are they?” asked Jisung.

“Convenience store,” said Chan nodding. “It’s empty other than them right now so it’s fine.”

“Is Jeongin okay?” asked Jisung.

“I don’t know,” said Chan, “Seungmin said physically, but he wasn’t sure otherwise. I’d guess some pretty nasty stuff was said and he had to either overhear or had it said to him directly.” Jisung shuddered.

“And we’re bringing them home,” said Jisung.

“Yes, we’re bringing them home,” said Chan nodding. “Seungmin just got himself kicked out for Jeongin so he’s coming home too.”

“Do we have room for that?” asked Jisung frowning. “Me and Felix could share. But we’ll have to downsize our closets and pillow collection and Felix’s plushie collection.”

“I’m not making you two move rooms,” said Chan shaking his head.

“Then where are we putting Seungmin? Jeongin could share with me. I can put all my notebooks in the producing room and I don’t really need all those clothes,” said Jisung.

“Jisungie,” said Chan softly. “It’s you’re home first. If Seungmin wants to stay he and Jeongin will share Jeonginnie’s room.” Jisung looked at him baffled.

“That’s the smallest room, hyung,” he said. “You’re going to put two people in there? And one of them’s actually a.” He stopped himself short, catching himself before saying person and implying he and Jeongin weren’t people, and Chan nodded.

“Yeah, I’m going to put two people in there,” he said, “it’s bigger than a dorm room at the college would be. It’s bigger than the dorm you and I shared with my roommate at JYP. It would comfortably fit two people and I doubt Seungmin or Jeongin are going to want to be far from each other anyway. And either way. At the end of the day you and Felix are my brothers and you come first. I’m not going to move you two around just because we’d have another human living with us.”

“I might need to go see Dr. Park more often again,” said Jisung hesitantly.

“If you think it’ll help, we’ll do that,” agreed Chan, “it’s been a rough few weeks…months.”

“But it’s been years since I implied I wasn’t a person or even outright said it,” said Jisung shaking his head. “And I almost did just now.”

“But you didn’t,” said Chan shaking his head. “You realized where you were taking that sentence and you stopped yourself. Maybe it feels like a bad thing because you almost did, but you didn’t actually. That’s good, Jisungie. You’re allowed to not be perfect. My very smart brother told me that once.” Jisung laughed which made Chan smile.

“He sounds like he knew what he was saying,” he said and Chan glanced over at him. Jisung shook his head.

“I can’t believe you remember that. That was years ago,” said Jisung.

“It was important,” said Chan nodding. “Of course I remember.” He parked the car in an empty parking lot and the two of them hurried out of the car. The store was still empty when they entered and it didn’t take long to find the two younger boys huddled against each other in one of the aisles. Jeongin latched onto Jisung immediately and Jisung wrapped an arm tightly around him, maneuvering him so he was squished between him and Chan. He then offered his other hand to a surprised looking Seungmin who took it.

“Alright,” said Chan, “no injuries? Everyone’s okay?” Both of them nodded.

“Let’s get home then and we can sort out the rest of it there,” he said and started leading them out of the store. Jeongin didn’t want to let go of Jisung so the two of them piled into the backseat together and Seungmin climbed into the front seat. The ride home was quiet. Felix greeted them in the doorway when they got home and Jeongin and Jisung climbed out of the car to join him.

“Are you okay?” asked Chan looking at Seungmin. Seungmin was quiet for a moment.

“No,” he said finally. “No I don’t think I am.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” asked Chan.

“Did you know that she wasn’t going to react well?” asked Seungmin. “Is that why you insisted I have your phone number and made sure to tell me I had somewhere to go if I needed to?”

“I was a little suspicious,” said Chan nodding.

“How?” asked Seungmin shaking his head.

“Well, for one. There were no police reports on missing Fennec Fox hybrids,” said Chan nodding. “And two, typically the kind of a person that’s going to spend a hell of a lot of money on a purebred exotic hybrid, especially an exceptionally cute one, is going to want a perfect hybrid, not one with nightmares and PTSD, not one covered in scars, certainly not one that’s been violated and had every bit of what made him valuable in the first place stripped from him. I’m assuming you haven’t seen Jeonginnie without his shirt yet. But honestly just the scars on his wrists and his arms is more than enough for someone who wants an exotic hybrid for the status of owning an exotic hybrid to be incredibly upset about that. So yeah I was worried that taking him home may not go super well.”

“That’s almost exactly what she said,” muttered Seungmin, “that she didn’t want some broken disgusting ugly thing in her house. That he wasn’t allowed to stay. That he would ruin her image and my image and she wouldn’t stand for it. Said he was no better than a broken toy and you don’t bring broken toys home you replace them.”

“And Jeonginnie had to hear all this didn’t he?” asked Chan and Seungmin nodded.

“I didn’t know,” he said. “I didn’t know or I’d have left him with you and gone to confront her first. I had no idea. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?” asked Chan.

“Because you care so much about him and he adores you,” said Seungmin, “and you’re so good at making sure he’s okay and happy and you knew exactly what to do. And you’ve got two already to make sure are okay and happy and I’m so very bad at this. I didn’t even think that maybe it could go bad and you had a safety plan in place on the off chance it did. So I’m sorry. I’m sorry you spent all this time looking for me only to end up having to take care of me too.”

“Seungmin, if I cared about having to take care of you too I wouldn’t have two hybrids living in my house, I wouldn’t have taken Jeongin in, and I wouldn’t have given you my number to call. I’m not rescuing hybrids, they’re not any different than offering to take in you too, just a little more difficult at first,” said Chan shaking his head. “We have an open door policy around here and an open couch policy and an open kitchen policy. Just. If people need help or support or love, I’d rather be there for them than let them hurt. So you’re always welcome here and you’re welcome to stay too. I’m sure Jeongin-ah would love to share his room with you, he’s missed you very much and is very glad to have you back. So don’t apologize to me. Jeongin-ah loves you. He might like me, but he loves you. He spent every day here looking for you and waking up crying for you. He screams for you when he’s scared. It’s not me he wants. He wants you. You don’t have to be perfect, hell I’m not perfect.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the perfect example of what a hybrid owner should be,” said Seungmin.

“Do you know how we found Bangtan?” asked Chan. “Jisung almost died in my arms. Passed out from hyperglycemic shock. I’ve personally caused at least half of Felix’s panic attacks. And Jeongin can tell you I scared the shit out of him five times the first week he was with us before we figured out what it was that scared him so bad. I’m the last person that should have a right to claim they’re a fantastic owner. I do my best to do right by the people that I claim as family though and that counts for enough. Felix thinks so, Jisung thinks so, Changbin, Hyunjin, and Minho all think so too. And that’s what matters at the end of the day. Not that I fucked it up, but that they think it doesn’t matter because I try to fix it. Jeongin thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Your opinion on whether or not you’re a good owner or brother or whatever you want to call it, doesn’t matter, his does. If he didn’t think you were the best ever I would not have spent months looking for you.” Seungmin looked like he was going to cry.

“Can I hug you?” asked Chan and Seungmin nodded. Chan pulled him into a careful hug.

“You’re good at this,” said Seungmin.

“Thanks, I’ve had a lot of practice,” said Chan with a laugh. “I’m sorry your family wasn’t what you thought they were, Seungmin-ah. You’re not alone, we’ve got you. If you’ll let us help you we would love to.” Seungmin sniffled slightly and laughed wetly.

“Sounds like you’re offering to adopt me too,” he said. Chan grinned.

“I totally am,” he said, “want to join the family? Felix would be ecstatic to have two little brothers.” Seungmin laughed.

“Yeah okay,” he said. “I’m at least willing to give it a try. I’ve never had older brothers before.”

“Oh we’re the worst but we’ll always have your back and that’s what matters,” said Chan nodding, “come on. We should go inside before they come looking thinking we died.”

“Would they?” asked Seungmin.

“Yes, and if we don’t move fast enough Felix will let Jisung bring the whip cream can out here too,” said Chan nodding. Seungmin laughed and let Chan lead him into the house. The warmth inside was tangible and Seungmin didn’t even think it was the heater. Just that Felix and Jeongin were laughing in the living room. Tea was cooling on the counter for the two of them and Jisung was cocooned in a giant blanket with both Jeongin and Felix sitting on him to keep him trapped as he whined about betrayal. Seungmin didn’t know them yet. And was pretty sure this had been the worst night of his life and he had no idea what he was going to do about school now, but he suddenly felt at peace. This was where he was supposed to be. They were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> there are far too many people involved in this series now...also it's been long enough since i wrote the taeyong fics back at the beginning of this series that i forgot who the third hybrid was and had to look at the spread sheet i have keeping track of everyone -_- 
> 
> and for anyone wondering why it took so long to get Seungmin into the series, it's because i almost made him and Jeongin both hybrids and went back and forth on it a lot. this was almost a completely different storyline 
> 
> also for everyone that sent me good vibes and hoped i'd be doing better, thank you!!!!! <3 you'll be happy to know that i actually got a decent amount of sleep this week (not counting sunday when i got two hours but instead of writing i was responsible after work and took a nap) i also remembered to eat real food for lunch this week so everything's going good! 
> 
> there's more to come! the random groups mentioned in this one with random members mentioned will eventually have all the members make an appearance...Twice may or may not actually make an appearance, just know that they do exist and as a group not all of them are idols but a lot of them are (kinda like NCT) at the moment some of the Seventeen boys are going to be idols and some of them are not. 
> 
> in case it wasn't clear Seungcheol owns a flower/plant shop and is Joshua's owner. Joshua is the hybrid mentioned in Yuta and Johnny's origin story from the shelter 
> 
> i have so many ideas for more fics right now that i'm a little overwhelmed and not sure where to start so i don't even know what to do. um...more NCT members that haven't been mentioned yet will be mentioned soon. another fic about Donghyuck, Jisung, and Mark will be coming. Seungcheol and Joshua actually have a fic in progress if i can focus on writing it. there's more Stray Kids on the way. and i have an idea for one that's Jungkook and Seokjin, i just have to decide how i want to structure it. 
> 
> if you see any confusion on like names of people or places please let me know and i will fix it. or try to fix it. i noticed a bit ago that the Suga and Hoseok fic in this series needs to be edited to fix some plotholes so don't read that one too closely until i get to it lol XD 
> 
> i'm also moving back to school this week so it might be a bit until i get another fic up (yes i'm moving back to school. because my state is handling corona by putting our hands over our eyes and yelling "i can't see you, you can't see me") 
> 
> Animals for Hybrids because I put a lot of work into it:  
> Minho - ChowChow Dog  
> Hyunjin - Persian Cat  
> Jisung - American Fuzzy Lop Bunny  
> Felix - Egyptian Mau Cat  
> Jeongin - Fennec Fox  
> Winwin - Cavachon Cat  
> Jungwoo - Devon Rex Cat  
> Chenle - American Eskimo Dog  
> Donghyuck - Ashera Cat  
> Jisung - Ragdoll Cat  
> Yuta - Beagador Dog  
> Renjun - American Shorthair Cat  
> Jeno - Chocolate Lab Dog  
> Jaemin - Boston Terrier Dog  
> Beomgyu - Bengal Cat  
> Taehyun - Korean Shorthair Calico Cat  
> Jungkook - English Lop Bunny  
> Yoongi - Scottish Fold Cat  
> Jongho - Pygmy Rabbit  
> Joshua - Scottish Fold Cat  
> Chaeyong - Tabby Cat 
> 
> I really hope that's everyone i probably forgot someone 
> 
> i also wanted to mention i've had more than one person comment on how they like that there's no sexualization of hybrids in this series. and i just wanted to put it out there that there won't be any changes to that in this series or honestly anything else i write. mostly because i'm asexual and also because since kpop is real people (even if i'm totally ignoring reality here lol) i'm kinda uncomfortable putting them into sexual situations??? like if that's the stuff for you good for you (i'm not judging anyone lol be happy be creative do your thing) but it makes me personally uncomfortable so if you're hoping to avoid fics with that sort of stuff i'm the girl for you because it's not here. :D
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!! :) <3


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